What Elon Musk Actually Said In The Tesla Earnings Report Conference Call

And Musk accurately noted that Tesla is a favorite of short sellers, who bet against stocks.

Tesla Inc TSLA.O Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk acknowledged on Friday that it was "foolish" of him to snub analysts on a conference call earlier in the week, but further needled Wall Street with a series of accusatory tweets. A "vast majority" of the company's manufacturing process is already automated, but Musk seems to be planning to take it to a whole new level. He also says, "They are actually on the opposite side of investors". That's quite interesting given the company is still facing difficulties with the Model 3 production.

"We've also found that there are some things that are very well suited to manual operation and some things that are very well suited to automated operation, and the two should not be confused", Musk said in reference to automation. We are likely to see many revisions in the coming days, especially after Tesla has pushed back its 25% margin target on the Model 3 by a couple of quarters. "They're killing me", he said before moving on from Spak and Sacconaghi's questions. Fresh design cues from the Model 3 such as the flat, grille-free front end could also define the new vehicle.

The call was moving along relatively smoothly until Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi asked about the electric auto maker's capital requirements.

Given a platform share with the Model 3 has now been confirmed, it's extremely likely that drivetrains will be the same, too. Tesla will undergo "a sort of reorganization, restructuring" this month to help achieve that goal, he said. Tesla has reportedly sent out a Request for Information (RFI) about Model Y parts to component suppliers.

Although Musk has insisted the company neither needs nor wants new funding, many believe the company will seek to raise more capital by the end of 2018. So almost five months ago, weeks before Tesla pushed back its Model 3 target to 2,500 units in Q1 2018 (which it failed to meet), the street didn't even think a profit in Q3 was possible.

However, his justification for calling out the other analyst speaks to how much work Tesla still has in front of it. Musk argues it would be impossible to fulfill existing Model 3 orders even if production goals are met, due to high demand. Musk fired, "Excuse me". "Next. Boring questions are not cool".

Tesla's stock price dropped to $283 on Thursday, down from a record of $389 reached in September. It was the third consecutive quarter of losses exceeding $600 million.

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